Winter Wonderland
by tlubww
Summary: Kate and Castle's First Winter together
1. Chapter 1

Kate woke up and stretched lazily before rolling over on her side. She expected to find Castle still asleep – he always slept in, or at least pretended to, waiting for her to bring him coffee – and was surprised to find him sitting on the bed facing her, smiling eagerly. She looked at him quizzically and then noticed the box in his lap. She sat upright. "I thought we agreed no presents except for holidays," she said, fighting to keep a grin off her face. He just looked so excited.

"We did," said Castle, who remembered all to well how she rejected the bracelet he surprised her with a few weeks ago. Unlike his other girlfriends, who almost expected a millionaire writer to shower them with gifts on a regular basis, Kate wanted to live a normal life. No random expensive gifts, no elaborate fancy restaurants, just a normal healthy relationship. He was only too happy to oblige. Except this time. "Just open it."

She rolled her eyes affectionately and took the gift from him. He watched her face closely as she undid the bow and opened the box, saw her eyes widen before she lowered her head, letting her hair cascade over her face, hiding it from view. Castle wondered if he had made a mistake, gone too far, and he gently reached over and tilted her chin back. She had a habit of avoiding his eyes when she was emotional – too happy or too sad – and he couldn't figure out which just now. She had tears in her eyes but was smiling.

"You remembered," Kate said softly. "Everything" he replied before kissing her gently on the cheek. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He responded immediately, pulling her onto his lap as the box fell to the floor, momentarily forgotten. Neither of them heard the clatter as the ice skates fell to the floor.

Two hours later Castle ushered her into the shower. Kate laughed at him and playfully pushed him away "Wollman Rink doesn't open until 2, what exactly are we rushing to?" she teased. "The manager is a fan," he answered with a wink.

Wrapped up in a scarf and gloves against the cold, they stood at the entrance to the large ice rink in Central Park. Castle's skates were well worn. "Who'd you borrow those from?" She asked. He smiled sheepishly "I've been taking lessons…for 2 years. I thought maybe one day I'd get you out there and I should be able to keep up." She stood on her toes and kissed him – for waiting, for loving her, for remembering, for everything. He put his arms around her, his left hand on her lower back, his right hand on her side. Castle's thumb pressed gently on a ticklish spot low on her stomach, marked by her tattoo of an elephant. He remembered how happy he had been to finally find that tattoo. His smile broke their kiss. Kate spun away and slid onto the ice. She glided for 30 seconds before falling on her butt. Castle laughed as he skated in circles around her on the ground, finally offering a hand up. "It's, uh, been a while," she said blushing but laughing. All the same she was glad they were the only ones on the ice.


	2. Chapter 2

They interlocked their fingers as they slowly turned circles around the rink. Like riding a bike, Kate thought to herself as she picked up speed, eventually leaving Castle behind. She turned and skated backwards, crooking her finger at him and smiling. "Think you can catch me?" she challenged. "I'd rather watch" he replied and leaned against the wall of the rink, watching her body stretch in to long lines as she made laps across the rink. People had started gathering at the fence, watching, wondering how one lone woman had the rink to herself. She hesitated but then caught Castle's eye. He was smiling. She laughed lightly, and reveled in the moment - wonderfully unselfconscious. His eyes mattered more than all of theirs. With one last burst of speed she charged towards him, coming to a stop directly in front of him, leaning into him, nuzzling the corner between his neck and shoulder - her corner.

When they got off the ice, there were two cups of hot chocolate waiting. She raised an eyebrow at him. "What are we twelve?" "It's the best in the city," he said with a shrug. "And anyway, we have plenty of time to be old together, it wouldn't hurt to act like kids." She dipped her head, a smiling playing across her lips. Kate, brave and steady, always so shy and embarrassed when he said these things off hand, without thinking. No grand statements of love or overwhelming gestures, just Castle, casually sure of their relationship. She squeezed his hand.

It was freezing outside and they stumbled into his loft pulling off their gloves and coats, laughing. Alexis looked over from her position on the couch and muted the TV. "Have a good time?" she asked. "The best," said Kate with a smile. "next time you have to come. I'll each you some moves." "Like falling? Those moves?" Castle teased, as he walked over and kissed the top of his daughter's head. "Yup. Those moves" laughed Kate, hurling a pillow at his head. He stood still and let it hit him, miming falling over onto the Alexis on the couch, who laughed and shoved him off of her.

Kate walked over to the fridge and started pulling things out. Alexis jumped up and stood beside her, peering inside. Kate held up steaks in her left hand and chicken in the right. Alexis reached over and grabbed the steaks, setting them on the counter and selecting seasonings from the spice rack. "Steak it is" said Kate, pulling out vegetables, salad, and potatoes. She reached under the counter for a cutting board, pulled a knife from the rack, and saaw Castle smiling at her from his new perch on the stool by the counter. "You know I'm only with you for this kitchen, don't you?" She asked, looking at him seriously with steady green eyes. "Understood," said Castle. "I'm just glad you can cook - would have been a shame to chase you for four years to discover that we have to break up over something as simple as that." He winked at Alexis. Kate rolled her eyes.

They chatted casually about Alexis' classes, the twists in the latest Nikki Heat novel, light, easy conversation. Kate loved Castle, in bed, at work, every part of him but this was her favorite part of being with him. The ease of being together, his hands lightly skimming her lower back as she walked past him, his quick kiss before ran out to the corner store for milk, the normality of every day conversations and activities with a man she loved and his family. She hadn't realized how much she missed this after her mother died. Kate, who had always pushed people away and who treasured her time alone, relished this time unwinding at the end of the day with Castle. On the rare occasion that she ended up at her place alone, she was shocked at how unwelcome the silence was. And how much she missed having him in her bed.

After dinner they walked Alexis downstairs and put her in a taxi home. They linked hands as they walked back into the building and got on the elevator. Kate leaned into Castle in the elevator and kissed his neck. "Good day?" he asked, stroking her hair. "Mmmm" she replied closing her eyes contentedly. The doors opened and she looked up at him. "Now take me to bed Castle."

They opened the front door and shed their clothing on the way to the bedroom. She lifted his sweater off his head, impatient at the momentary absence of his lips, His arms came down to pull her close as he kissed her deeply. He pulled one shoulder of her sweater aside and kissed her neck, before grabbing the bottom of her shirt and smoothly listen it over her head. He kicked off his shoes as their mouths found each other once more. Castle lifted Kate and she wrapped her legs around him, pushng off her shoes as they made their way to the bedroom.

They had fallen into an easy rhythm, night after night. Overwhelmed by each other - they both secretly wondered if that feeling would ever go away; and hoped it would not - the tore at one another with rapid, almost frantic pace, still working through 4 years of repressed emotions and desire. Minutes later they were both sated. When they caught their breath, they melted into one another once again, slowly, tenderly. A kiss here, a nibble there, taking time to explore one another and bring their true emotions to bed. When they were both glowing but exhausted, hoarsely laughing at the wonder of finally being together, Kate folded into his arms, her body humming with contentment as Castle fell asleep with a smile on his lips.

They woke up the next morning still tangled in each other, sheets discarded on the floor. "Castle?" Kate said softly, unsure if he was awake. He laughed softly, and she smiled as his laughter gently shook her body. "How come you never call me Rick?"

"I do…sometimes." The truth was, when she thought about him, when she fantasized about him, when she fell in love with him, he was Castle. He was never Rick to her, saying the name felt like talking about a stranger. Instead she turned slightly in his arms so that she was looking him in the eyes and said, "it's a hard habit to break. Do you mind it?" His kiss, sending a shiver from her lips down to her curling toes, was answer enough. "So _Castle_. I took a vacation day tomorrow. You up for an adventure?"


	3. Chapter 3

They had been working together for four years and now were able to act on what they had learned about each other. Kate played laser tag with Castle and Alexis, he cooked dinner with her, he had learned her tricks with the ice cubes, and she had learned what, exactly, made him yell apples. There were little things too. Once Castle had said to give a woman a gift that she asked for when she didn't know you were listening. They had years of things to catch up on. He had been planning the ice skating since her saw the photo years ago. She had been planning this since they got locked in a trunk.

They dressed, ate a leisurely breakfast and headed out, Beckett carrying a gym bag over her shoulder. She pulled him down Broadway to the parking garage. He didn't argue over who would drive the Ferrari. For one thing, he always lost. For another, he discovered few things were sexier than watching her drive stick. But the race car wasn't waiting for them at the booth. He jokingly scolded her "You? Who plans everything? You forgot to call ahead?" She unzipped the bag and tossed him something round. He turned it over in his hands. A motorcycle helmet. "Nope," she said, grinning as she pointed to the motorcycle parked in the corner. She threw her long leg over the bike and tucked her hair up in the helmet. It turned out there was definitely something sexier than driving stick.

Castle scrambled on the back and paused. He awkwardly moved his hands from his legs, to hers, to her shoulders, unsure of where to place them. She laughed and pulled his arms around her waist. He locked them lightly and then pulled abruptly, shifting himself forward on the seat, his body flush with hers. "Let's ride," he said in his most seductive voice. Even staring at the back of her head he knew she rolled her eyes as she gunned the motor.

Beckett expertly steered them through the streets of the city, headed for the George Washington Bridge. He didn't ask any questions, just held her close, resisting the urge to let his hands wander. For her part, she had an enormous grin on her face as she sped towards the Palisades with her love's hands around her waist, lost in the moment.

Castle's mind had begun to wander, images of Kate in leather, and what he would do with her on this bike, parked in the trees. He was startled into reality when she stopped the bike. He trailed his hands lightly across her thighs before taking off his helmet. He wasn't sure how but she managed to turn around in her seat in that moment, and was facing him when he took it off. He lifted his hands and unhooked her helmet, cupping her cheek as he lifted it offer her head. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, wrapping her legs around him and sliding into his lap. "I'm so going to kick your ass," she whispered. He pulled away from her long enough to look around. They were at the racetrack.


	4. Chapter 4

It took him a while to remember the moment. He was thrilled at the idea of the track but couldn't remember when, exactly, they had talked about this in the past until the man in charge, Joe, was giving them safety instructions. He kept saying the word "lap" until it hit him, and Castle started bouncing on his toes. When Joe turned away to get their helmets, Castle pulled Beckett in for a tight hug and growled "Coffee in bed for a week says I'm going to lap you." She rolled her eyes but grinned widely because he had remembered when she mentioned this in passing, in a parking lot in Jersey. "You're on" she replied, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

Almost topping Kate on a motorcycle was watching her long body disappear into the window of the race car, winking at him just before her head disappeared. He hesitated at his window, staring at her with his mouth slightly agape before she raised her eyebrows impatiently through the windshield and gestured for him to get in, revving the motor for good measure. For her part, she'd never tell him just how sexy it was watching him in that fireproof jumpsuit, grinning boyishly at him from under the helmet. She shook her head slightly to clear the images dancing before her eyes and focused on the starting flag.

The flag fell down and she slammed on teh accelerator, jumping out, their cars running head to head. She heard him giggle - just straight up giggle - over the built in headphones in her helmet. She easily pulled ahead, and he fell into line right behind her, never accelerating or moving, just keeping pace.

"I finally let you drive and that's all you've got Castle?"

"What can I say Kate, I like the way you look from behind." He paused. "You're smiling aren't you. I know you're smiling."

The truth was he loved the racing but was paralyzed with fear of fiery car crashes. Not for himself, but of her. And if he pulled beside or ahead of her...he liked to know exactly where she was on the track so he could see where she was.

"Only because I'm kicking your ass. I always knew I was the better driver."

"Two weeks" he growled and hit the accelerator. She was the better driver he realized. And she could certainly take care of herself. In reality they were probably both safer if she knew exactly where he was, rather than the other way around. He pressed his foot to the ground and jolted in front of her. She narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on the wheel. It turned out he wasn't so bad himself. They mostly kept pace with one another, occasionally one pulling ahead of the other until they approached the finish line on the end of their 50th lap.

Both cars roared across the finish line and then slowed to a stop. They looked up at the board, wating the results with bated breath and...Castle's car had won. He whooped so loudly that Beckett actually grimaced in her car at the sound blaring through her headphones. In his haste to get out of the car Castle's legs tangled in the window netting and he fell ungracefully to the track. She easily exited and stood over him, frowning but he could see the smile in her eyes. "I won" he said. "You won" she indulged reaching down to give him a hand up.

He pulled on her arm, tumbling her to the floor next to him, where she landed with an "oomph" between their cars. Taking advantage of the cover granted them by the race cars, and ignoring the almost unbearable heat radiating from the engines, Castle trapped her with his legs and went to kiss her. The audible knock from their helmets, which kept their faces separated by at least 3 inches, made them both laugh. Kate reached up and pulled off her helmet, her long brown hair cascading over both their faces as she leaned in and kissed him slowly, tongues dancing together. She broke the kiss - too soon he thought - when she heard Joe's voice as he approached and scrambled to her feet.

They held hands, fingers intertwined, as the exited the race track. She leaned into him, hiding from the sudden chill in the air, and he released her hand to wrap his arm around her. "Can I drive?" He asked as they reached the motorcycle. Beckett literally laughed in his face.


End file.
